


Set, Time, Match

by 9haharharley1



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Bad Flirting, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Flirting, M/M, Not Phantom Planet Compliant, On Hiatus, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, based on The Ultimate Enemy episode
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 13:17:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5968666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/9haharharley1/pseuds/9haharharley1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clockwork makes a deal with Dan and releases him. He's tasked to look after Danny and teach him to use his powers. But Dan starts to remember all the bad stuff that happens to Danny and starts to become protective.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Moved from FF.net. Not beta'd.

The Master of Time observed the time portal like a critic would an interesting movie. It was currently set to Ancient Egypt. The Pharaoh’s slaves were building the second pyramid of Giza.

 

The Observers were chattering on in the background.

 

Clockwork groaned as his body unconsciously took the form of his older self.

 

“Are you even listening to us?” one of the Observers demanded.

 

Sometimes, Clockwork really hated his job.

 

“Yes, yes,” he said, waving a hand flippantly. “Danny Phantom’s evil older self is messing with the time stream.” He turned around and glared at the one-eyed ghosts. “Do you actually think that I’m not aware of this?”

 

The Observers glanced at each other. “So something must be done about it!” the second Observer explained.

 

Clockwork shifted to his child form. He smirked at them before turning back to the time portal. “And how exactly do I play into this?” The portal changed to watch Danny Fenton and his friends walk to school. The halfa was holding hands with the Goth child.

 

Finally. Now his plans could really start moving along…

 

The first Observer floated over to a harmless looking Fenton Thermos sitting on the table and picked it up.

 

“His future self must parish,” he explained point-blank.

 

The Observer suddenly shrieked. The thermos made a loud crashing noise from the inside and fell out of the ghost’s hand. It rolled away from him and came to a stop near Clockwork.

 

“Oh, no!” a muffled voice inside it shouted angrily. The Observers were startled. “Don’t think I can’t hear you! Just because I’m stuck inside this stupid thing doesn’t mean that you can kill me!” The thermos jerked around a little bit more while loud banging could be heard from inside it. The Observers stared at it wide-eyed. They had not been aware that Dan Phantom was still mobile. Or audible, for that matter.

 

Clockwork picked the thermos up, now in his young adult form. He gave the thermos a lazy shake, smiling slightly at the enraged yell it emitted.

 

“Oh, hush, you,” he told it. The good thing about being Dan Phantom’s ‘babysitter’ meant a fair amount of torture for the unruly ghost. But still…

 

Clockwork turned his gaze back to the Observers.

 

“I may not particularly like this Phantom -” another shake, another yell - “but killing him wouldn’t exactly be easy or fair.”

 

“Listen to the All-Knowing!” the voice yelled again. This earned another shake. “Argh! I was agreeing with you!”

 

“Your opinions are not needed,” was the time ghost’s reply. He turned back to the Observers, changing back to his child self. “And you two are obsessed with death. Dan Phantom does not need to be destroyed.”

 

The Observers had the decency to look ashamed.

 

“The only other way,” the second one-eyed ghost started, “is for him to live in his human self’s time.”

 

“But he would have to redeem himself,” the first concluded.

 

They both glared at the small, metal prison. “As if that could ever happen!” they announced in sync.

 

Clockwork’s older self spared them a glare. He _really_ hated his employers sometimes. But then he cast his scrutinizing gaze onto the metal prison. The two thick-headed ghosts thought they knew everything. They thought that the super evil Dan Phantom could not redeem himself.

 

Clockwork suddenly grinned.

 

Oh, how he loved to prove them wrong.

 

“And what if he could redeem himself?” he asked the twin ghosts. “What if I were to give him a chance to prove himself good? It’s either death or a relatively peaceful life with his younger self. What do you say?” The Observers turned and stared at each other as if communicating via thought waves. Clockwork turned his attention back to the thermos.

 

“What do you think Dan?” he asked, punctuating his question with a firm shake in case the younger ghost wasn’t listening. He smirked at the enraged yell this earned him. “What are your thoughts on the matter?”

 

The canister growled back at him, twitching just so. “I’m thinking that if you don’t stop shaking this stupid thing, I’m gonna bust out of here and maim your sorry ass!”

 

The Master of Time was completely unimpressed. “You said that the last time,” was his cool reply.

 

And he shook the thermos again. And Dan growled murderously. Again.

 

“It would save the time stream.” Clockwork held the thermos up at eye-level. There was a lot of banging going on inside of it. “And you would be free.” The banging stopped.

 

The Observers watched Clockwork mutter to the Fenton Thermos. They could not hear what he was saying, but could tell that Dan was listening, for the shaking had stopped.

 

Clockwork was back in his young adult form. “Would you like to be free, Dan?” he muttered. The Observers didn’t need to hear everything that was said between them.

 

The evil ghost gave no reply. But Clockwork didn’t need one.

 

“You would be free,” the older ghost continued. “You would be free and far away. You wouldn’t have to see me again. Unless you screw up.”

 

There was silence for a short while. Then… “All I have to do is be good?” the voice asked suspiciously. “What exactly does that entail?”

 

Clockwork’s childish face gave a small smile. He floated over to his table where the thermos normally sat, and set it down gently. There was no need to anger the evil ghost, now, was there? “Just be good. No harming anybody, no harming Daniel or his friends, and no going against Daniel’s wishes. Also, train him. Teach young Daniel how to master his powers. Powers that you’ve had ten years to perfect. He has had his for little less than a year.”

 

The thermos was silent.

 

“That’s all?” Dan’s tone was still suspicious. “What’s the catch?”

 

Clockwork - in adolescent form - smirked knowingly. “You’ll find out in due time.”

 

There was a barely audible sigh from the thermos. “Fine. I’ll do it. Only if it means I can get out of here and away from you!”  


Clockwork was still smirking as he reached for the thermos’ cap. “That’s what I figured,” he muttered. The Observers stood on the far side of the room fearfully. “But still…If you misbehave you end up right back here.”

 

There was a bright flash of light and the sound of laughter as Clockwork removed the lid.


	2. Chapter 2

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were blissfully unaware of the goings-on at the outskirts of the Ghostzone. They were on their way to school, Tucker looking up information on his ever-present PDA. Sam and Danny were holding each other’s hands.

 

Danny was ranting, while Sam and Tucker listened sympathetically.

 

“Seriously! Three major ghosts in one night? Really? Come on! I don’t have time to fight ghosts for hours on end!” Danny ranted. He waved his free hand around all over the place, seeing that Sam’s kept his other one captive.

 

“I don’t even have time to do homework anymore!” Danny continued. “Between school, ghost hunting, and autographs, I barely get any time to myself.”

 

Sam smiled softly and lightly squeezed the distressed boy’s hand. “Hey, on the plus side, at least Lancer’s going easy on you now.” Danny smiled at her attempts to cheer him up.

 

“Only because he thinks there’s something wrong at home that’s distracting me from school,” Danny muttered.

 

“Speaking of Lancer,” Tucker started, “did you get any time to come up with a thesis for your paper?” His nose was still buried in his PDA.

 

Danny suddenly stopped, smacking his head and scowling. “I hate my life,” he muttered.

 

Sam scowled at Tucker, who finally looked up when he heard Danny hit himself. “Wait to go, Tuck.” Tucker cowered behind his handheld.

 

Sam walked back to Danny and put a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe if you explain it to him, Lancer will give you more time on it.”

 

Danny rubbed his head, sighing heavily. “I still currently hate my life…”

 

Tucker rested his own hand own Danny’s other shoulder. “Hey, cheer up, dude. If Lancer doesn’t give you more time, we’ll go to the Nasty Burger after school.” He smiled widely when Danny finally looked up at him. “Sam’s treat!” At that, both boy’s smiled and looked pleadingly at Sam.

 

Sam rolled her eyes. “The things I do for you jerks…” she muttered as she walked off.

 

The two boys grinned at each other and cheered. They quickly caught up with violet eyed girl and laced arms with her. “We love you!”

 

“You better,” she replied with a smile.

 

After having sufficiently diverted Danny’s attention away from ghosts, the three best friends continued on towards Casper High.

 

They were completely unaware of the glowing eyes observing their every move.

 

~*~

 

_“So… All I really have to do is follow him and be nice?”_

_“That is all you have to do. Oh, and if you can, train him. He is not completely in control of all of his powers, yet.”_

_“Do I have to? OW!”_

_“Yes. You do.”_  
  


_“That hurt ya’ know…”_

_“It was supposed to. Now will you do as I say?”_

_“Will it keep you away from me?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Fine. I’ll train the brat.”_  
  


_“You do realize you just called yourself a brat, right?”_

_“…I hate you, ya know?”_

_“I am well aware.”_

_“You’re an asshole. Now when can I go? I can feel that you’re about to hit me again…”_

_“Hmm… You may leave whenever. The portal is set to Danny Fenton’s time. Oh, and if you can find it in the ‘good’ of your heart, enroll into the school again.”_

_“What?! Why?!”_

_“Keep the bullies away from him.”_

_“But… OW! Jeez!”_

_“Do it. It is a part of the whole protecting thing.”_

_“I knew you were gonna hit me… Don’t do it again!”_

_“Are you listening to me?”_

_“Yes, yes! I heard you! Protect the kid, I get it! OW! What was that for?!”_

_“You were being a smartass.”_

_“Whatever. Is there anything else I need to know?”_

_“No, there is not.”_

_“Good. I’m out of here!”_

 

Clockwork smirked, his child-like body hovering in front of the time portal.

 

“At least, nothing you need to know, yet…”

 

~*~

 

Danny, Sam, and Tucker arrived at the high school with plenty of time to spare. They decided to waste their time under a large oak tree they frequented before school. They used the time to help Danny with his thesis statement.

 

“Hey, look on the bright side,” said Tucker. “At least the paper isn’t due till the end of the month.”

 

“Oh, yeah, Tucker,” Sam scowled. “He has a whole week and a half to write a rough draft over something he barely paid attention to in class.”

 

“Gee, thanks, Sam,” muttered Danny. Sam gave him a guilty smile. He sighed, slamming his literature book shut. “Let’s face it; I’m bad in school, I can’t write an essay to save my life, and even if Lancer gave me more time, I _still_ wouldn’t finish it!” He buried his head in his hands. “And Paullina won’t stop stalking me…”

 

A growl came from his left. Danny and Tucker both looked up, not completely surprised to see Sam red-faced and scowling one of her demon scowls of doom. “Paullina?” she growled. “Paullina?!”

 

Danny sighed. “I shouldn’t have said that…”

 

“Who does she think she is?!” the Goth nearly shouted. “She had her chance a long time ago! What’s that shallow bitch’s problem? She can’t get over that Danny Phantom doesn’t want her or something? I’m sorry, but she can kiss my white ass if she thinks -”

 

Sam was cut off mid-rant by a shrill scream. It was quickly followed by another one, which accumulated to several more. The trio stood up and ran towards the screaming humans, Danny’s ghost sense kicking in. At the opposite end of the school, they found the Lunch Lady cornering several students with a few of her Meat Minions keeping them huddled together.

 

Danny sighed in exasperation. At the same time, the warning bell for school sounded, and those students who were oblivious to the current ghost problem all rushed in to get to class. Danny groaned. He turned to his two friends, both of whom had worried looks on their faces.

 

The raven haired boy forced a small smile. “You guys go ahead. I’ll catch up.”

 

“You sure?” asked Tucker.

 

“Yeah.” Danny turned around, changing into his ghost form as he did so. He glared at the Lunch Lady. “I’m just gonna blow off some steam…” And then he attacked.

 

Sam and Tucker shared a look before walking off. “We’ll warn Lancer,” they called.

 

~*~

 

_ 7 Minutes Later _

 

“What was it this time, Mr. Fenton?” Lancer asked exasperatedly as Danny quietly walked through the door. He looked up from where he was taking attendance to scrutinize the halfa.

 

The class snickered as Danny blushed, pulling a random twig out of his hair. “Sorry, Mr. Lancer,” he muttered. He nervously tried to flatten out his jeans, which were wrinkled and were now sporting a hole in the knee with scorch marks around the bottoms. “I ran into a few problems getting to school…” He tightened his grip on his backpack.

 

Lancer stared at him suspiciously for a moment, and then sighed. “That’s the third time this week, Fenton. I want to talk to you after class.”

 

Danny sighed. “Yes, sir.” He then walked to his desk, stepping over the foot Dash Baxter tried to trip him with.

 

Once he was seated, Tucker leaned over. “You don’t look much better than you did earlier…”

 

Danny smirked back. “But I do feel just a little bit better.”

 

Sam, who sat in front of Tucker, rested her head in her hand. “I’m sure you get a kick out of beating up ghosts, but you totally missed it!”

 

“Missed what?” Danny asked.

 

“Oh, yeah!” The techno-geek was suddenly grinning. “We got a new student! Lancer announced it when class started.”

 

“How is that good news?”

 

“I don’t know. But I hope he’s cool.”

 

Danny couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Whatever, Tuck.”

 

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Lancer got up from his desk and walked over to the door, opening it and stepping out. Suddenly, Danny gasped and shivered. Tucker and Sam looked over and saw the frosty breath of air leave Danny’s mouth. They shared a look with each other. Danny was about to get up and run to Lancer when the teacher walked through the door, a student trailing after him. Although there was no way for the kid to be a sophomore.

 

Danny studied the student, noticing a vague familiarity. The teen looked like he was eighteen, with long black hair pulled back in a tail at the base of his head, frazzled bangs hanging in his face, and a trimmed black goatee. He had on loose black pants with a pair of black combat boots and a tight black shirt with white flames crawling up the sides. He smirked at the class, the majority (excluding Sam) swooning over his obvious sexiness. His eyes suddenly locked with Danny’s.

 

The student’s smirk turned positively evil. His eyes flashed, and Danny went cold.

 

 _Oh_ , Clockwork was _so_ dead.


	3. Chapter 3

It took every ounce of self-control that Danny Fenton had to not lunge out of his chair and attack the new guy. Bad things would happen if he did. The black haired teen gripped the edge of his desk hard, his nails digging into the surface. He was almost surprised that he wasn’t denting it.

 

Lancer cleared his throat, trying to regain the attention of the gossiping class, mostly the girls who couldn’t seem to take their eyes off the new student or whisper to their friends. Eventually everyone shut up.

 

“As I said earlier, class,” started Lancer, glancing at Danny. “We have a new student. This is Dan. He hails from Canada.”

 

 _No he doesn’t,_ Danny thought with a scowl. He continued to glare darkly at the older looking teen, all the while cursing Clockwork in his mind.

 

‘Dan’ continued to stand there and smirk, even as Lancer asked him questions about how far along he was in his schooling back in ‘Canada’. Seriously, Canada? What kind of bullshit was that? Sam reached over and put a hand on his shoulder to try and keep him calm. It succeeded in making him snap.

 

The next thing Sam and Tucker knew, Danny was gone, phasing through the floor of the classroom. They both shared a look.

 

All hell broke loose.

 

One of the girls screamed, Danny Phantom phasing through the classroom door and all but tackling ‘Dan’ out the window. Students screamed as the crash resounded, Lancer running over. The students followed, Sam and Tucker worried for their ghostly friend.

 

“Where are they?”

 

“I don’t see him!”

 

“Did they fly off or something?”

 

“The new guy should be a pancake!”

 

The noise level rose, students talking and speculating all at once. Sam pushed her way to the front, hoping to catch a glimpse of the two ghosts. Nothing could be seen. People were gathered at the base of the building staring up at the broken window with abject horror and fascination. Some were talking amongst themselves and pointing while others just stared in the general direction the ghost kid must have flown.

 

She turned to the techno-geek who just appeared behind her. “We have to go after them.”

 

Lancer was still nearly frozen on the spot, unbelieving that the resident ‘hero’ of the town just attacked a student; one of _his_ students. He was almost completely unsure how to handle this. What were you supposed to do when one of your students was basically kidnapped right in front of your nose?

 

He had to rein everybody in first. “Alright class! Settle down! Everybody back to their seats!” The class was slow to respond but did so anyway, still looking out the window. “Now I know everybody’s a little freaked out, but everyone just stay calm! I’m going to go the principal and we’ll call the police. You all just stay here and if the bell rings you will continue on to your next class like normal.”

 

There were a few groans but he ignored these, instead focusing on the three empty seats belonging to Fenton, Manson, and Folely. He scowled. This was going to be a very long talk with the principal.

 

/

 

Danny had flown them to the edge of town, trying all the while to wrestle the taller and, admittedly, stronger ghost into submission. ‘Dan’ was having none of it. He revealed himself for what he really was – a tall, buff, megalomaniac – and easily dodged Danny’s attempts to beat and choke him. They finally stopped rolling around in the air when ‘Dan’ was able to pin the squirming teen to a roof with a few well aimed shots of ectoplasm.

 

“Let me go,” the halfa demanded. He scowled at his older self, glaring for all he was worth.

 

‘Dan’ reached up to grab at his heart (or where it should have been) and frowned. “Now is that any way to greet your older self; to throw me out a window and attack me? I’m hurt, Danny, real hurt.” He even faked a few tears for added effect.

 

The teen continued to glare from where he lay. “For some reason I’m having a hard time believing you.”

 

‘Dan’ chuckled. He walked in a slow circle around the captive teen. “I have to admit that your reaction was a lot more unexpected than I thought.”

 

“Oh, really?” Danny snapped. “And what exactly did you think I was gonna do? Run up and give you a big hug?”

 

The light pat on the face was unexpected. He wished his arms were free so he could strangle the older ghost and not pinned up by his head. ‘Dan’ stayed crouched next to him.

 

“Oh, young Danny. As temperamental as always.” ‘Dan’ continued to smirk infuriatingly. “I remember when I still had that temper. Of course, that all kinda went away when I ripped out my human self…”

 

“I am not like you!” Danny screamed. His face was flushed and he panted in his anger.

 

“I never said you were,” the ghost continued. “Technically, I might never actually exist in this world. I am simply a semi-permanent visitor right now.”

 

Danny glared. “What the hell does that mean?”

 

Another pat to the cheek. “Language, Daniel. It’s unbecoming of you.”

 

“Who gave you the right to tell me what to do?” He kicked his legs out in annoyance. At least those were still free.

 

“Clockwork did.” His smirk widened when Danny stiffened.

 

“What? Clockwork let you out? What the hell was he thinking?” Danny’s voice steadily rose, gaining a note of hysteria as he continued. “You can’t be serious! Clockwork willingly let you out? Why would he do that? Doesn’t he know better? I’m gonna kill him! But wait, you’re gonna kill me first aren’t you? Then you’ll kill Tucker and Sam, and then my family, and then you’ll try to destroy the world again-”

 

The loud _smack_ echoed in the following silence, ‘Dan’s’ smirk finally gone as he glared death down at Danny. Danny caught his breath, taking deep gulps of air and trying to calm his racing heart. Why did these things all have to happen to him? Seriously?

 

“For your information,” the older ghost started, “I’m not here to kill anybody.” Danny looked confused. “I’m here on a… _request_ from Clockwork.” It almost hurt him to say. Danny just looked even more confused, but at least he was keeping silent. ‘Dan’ sat down next to him, getting comfortable with one leg drawn up to rest an arm on while the other stretched out.

 

“I’m… here to…” He scrunched his nose, trying to think of the right word. “To… train you, I think he said.”

 

Danny was silent, face blank. Then… “Clockwork sent you to train me?” His face screwed up into one of contempt. “I don’t need training, least of all from _you_.”

 

‘Dan’ pinned him with a look, one that made Danny wince. Then he made a ball of ice appear in his hand.

 

“Yeah, so? I can do that t-” He trailed off as a ball of fire appeared in ‘Dan’s’ other hand. “Ok, so maybe I can’t do that…”

 

The older ghost smirked. “See? I do have some techniques to offer up.”

 

“What’s the catch?” the halfa muttered.

 

“No catch.”

 

“Yeah, right!” yelled Danny, squirming in his binds again. ‘Dan’s’ gaze was drawn to the teen’s hips and back, where they were constantly arching up. Unconsciously, he licked his lips. “There’s _always_ a catch! Especially when Clockwork’s involved.”

 

The older ghost put a finger to his chin, face thoughtful. “I don’t remember him saying anything…”

 

Danny rolled his eyes. “He wouldn’t. He’s the master of time and space. He probably already knows what’ll happen anyway.”

 

‘Dan’ smirked. “That we fall madly in love and have hot, sweaty monkey sex in your living room?”

 

“What?!” Danny looked horrified, face ashen as he stared at his alternate future self disbelievingly. In his shocked state, he reverted back to his human form. “No, you asshole!”

 

“Aw, I was looking forward to that part…” the elder mumbled, teasing smirk still in place.

 

Danny was confused. This crazy, evil, alternate future version of his older self apparently had a humorous side. It was a little creepy, very sarcastic, and kind of messed up, but it was there nonetheless. And Clockwork wanted him to deal with this guy on a regular basis? They were going to kill each other! Or at least, ‘Dan’ would kill him. Danny knew he almost didn’t stand a chance. Especially if the megalomaniac wound up living – wait.

 

“Where are you living right now?” Danny asked suddenly, dreading the answer.

 

‘Dan’ gave him another look. “With you, of course. Where the hell else would I stay?”

 

That horrified look came over the younger’s face again. “Oh, no! You are not staying with me! Who knows what you’ll do to my family! I won’t be able to leave you alone with them!”

 

‘Dan’ patted his face again. This time, Danny tried to bite those annoying fingers. The ghost pulled them away in time though. “Don’t worry your pretty little head over it,” he started. “I’m under contract with Clockwork. If I kill anyone while I’m here, it’s back in the Thermos.” He shuddered. “And honestly, I really don’t want to go back in there.”

 

“But he said nothing about hurting anybody!” Danny’s face was still pale.

 

“Loopholes are a wonderful thing, aren’t they?” That smirk was back. “Now, would you like me to let you up, or are you going to continue to throw a bitch fit? Man, I forgot how whiney you are…”

 

Danny stared hard into the ghost’s red eyes. “You promise not to hurt any of the people I care about?”

 

‘Dan’ rolled his eyes. “Yes, I promise. If I really wanted to, this town would already be leveled, and you know it.”

 

He had a point there. All this time spent arguing with Danny he could have used to attack everybody and Danny would have been powerless to help. The teen finally sighed and his body seemed to sag with it. He was under way to much stress lately.

 

‘Dan’ noticed this, but said nothing.

 

“Alright, let me up,” Danny ordered.

 

“What’s the magic word?” The infuriating smirk!

 

Danny ground his teeth. “ _Please_.”

 

Oh, ‘Dan’ was having too much fun with this. “Please what?”

 

The raven haired boy groaned loudly, kicking his feet. “ _Please_ let me go so that when I do break free I don’t beat you!”

 

‘Dan’ chuckled. “Alright, alight, no need to throw a hissy fit.” He blasted the bindings on Danny’s wrists, the teen rubbing them as he sat up slowly. “You done whining now?”

 

“Almost…” ‘Dan raised an eyebrow as Danny walked over. He smiled before slugging the ghost’s arm as hard as he could. ‘Dan’ actually winced and rubbed at the sore spot, glaring heatedly down at the teen.

 

“Do you feel better?”

 

The blue-eyed boy nodded with a happy sigh, smiling as he changed back into his ghost form. He walked to the edge of the roof, feeling the older ghost’s eyes on him the whole way. Then he turned around. “What do I call you anyway?”

 

The elder bowed low to teen. “You may call me Dan,” he said with a smirk.

 

Danny snorted. “How original.”

 

Dan shrugged. “Best I could do on short notice. And hey, it’s not like it wasn’t my name at one time.”

 

The halfa glared, memories of that alternate future playing in his mind. He wanted to say something smart, he really did, but nothing came to forefront, so he left it. He hovered in the air and with one last look at Dan, took off for Casper High. If he was lucky, he wouldn’t see Lancer for the rest of the day.

 

Dan watched him go, a strange feeling niggling at the back of his mind. It had something to do with his younger self, but he didn’t want to think about that right now.

 

There was a small ripping sound of someone cutting plastic with a knife, but Dan did not turn to see. Clockwork’s child form appeared next to him.

 

“You handled that very well,” that smooth voice stated.

 

Dan snorted. “Are you going to be watching me all the time then?”

 

“Not always,” said the time keeper. “But often. You might want try and reconcile with him.”

 

“You know, this won’t be any easier with you telling me what I should and should not do.” Dan was glaring at him.

 

Clockwork smirked, now an old man. “If you would like to do this all on your own, be my guess. I will refrain from giving you advice.” He turned to go back through the portal.

 

“Will you give it if I ask?”

 

Another smirk. “Maybe.” And with that, he was gone.

 

Dan remained on that roof for a few more minutes, mulling over the master of time’s words. With a sigh, he followed Danny to the high school.


	4. Chapter 4

Danny flew back to the school, a scowl on his face. He couldn’t believe it! Clockwork was such an asshole! How dare he think that _Dan_ wasn’t going to cause any problems! The guy was a maniac. He had destroyed the whole world in one timeline, he’d do it again. Didn’t the timekeeper know that?

 

The ghost boy let out an exasperated sigh. “What am I going to do?”

 

Just then he heard voices calling for him. Looking down, he saw Sam and Tucker waving up at him about a block away from the school. He sighed, floating over to land just in front of them, changing only when he knew the coast was clear.

 

“What the hell was that all about?” Sam automatically demanded, hands on her hips.

 

Danny sighed once more. “Can we please not talk about it right now?”

 

“But, dude, you totally just pushed a kid out of a two story window!” Tucker elaborated, arms gesturing wildly. “In the middle of class!”

 

The ghost boy started the walk back to school. “Can we _please_ talk about this later?” he begged once more.

 

Sam grabbed his arm, stopping him. “Danny, just tell us. We’re your friends. What happened?” She held his hand in hers.

 

Glancing down at their joined hands, Danny hesitated. He knew he should tell them, but this was turning out to be a bad enough day as it was. If he told them now, they would most likely freak out and badger him all day on what they should do. If he didn’t tell them now, then they would badger him all day anyway until he did finally tell them. Danny really did not want to deal with it at the moment.

 

“Look, guys,” he started, pulling his hand out of the Goth’s grip. “Can we please wait until after school? I promise I’ll talk then, but I really just want to get through the rest of the day.”

 

Tucker and Sam shared a worried look. “I guess, man,” said Tucker. “We’ll leave you alone until then.”

 

Danny smiled gratefully. “Thank you.”

 

They started back for the school, all the while Danny’s thoughts traveling back to the ghost who was more or less following them.

 

The three friends made it back to Casper High just in time to hear the bell for first period to end. _‘This is going to be a long day,’_ Danny thought. The three split to go to their lockers, grabbing their things and saying bye to Sam, who had a separate class from the boys. The two boys walked in silence to their math class, the halfa lost in his thoughts and Tucker distracting himself with his PDA. They made it to class with a few minutes to spare, both boys taking up their seats in the back. They continued like they had up until the bell rang, signaling that class had started. Neither bothered to look up until the whispers started floating around the room.

 

In the five minutes between class hours, gossip had apparently spread around the school. Within those five minutes, the whole school knew about the new kid and his brutal attack by Phantom. The cause for the whispers was standing at the front of the classroom handing the teacher a slip of paper. There was a dull _thunk_ and Tucker looked over to see Danny’s head plastered against his desk.

 

“Are you alright, man?” he asked worriedly.

 

“No,” was the raven’s rather bland answer. Tucker just shrugged.

 

Math started out almost the same way that English had. The teacher introduced the new guy, the girls swooned over him, and Danny slowly started to simmer in annoyance and anger. The only difference was that he was able to restrain himself this time, and neither he nor Dan went flying out the window.

 

“There’s a seat in the back next to Danny Fenton you can have,” the teacher told the new student.

 

Dan gave her a winning smile, which had all the girls starring dreamily at him, before walking to the back and taking his seat. He smirked at Tucker and Danny, whose head was still plastered to his desk, ignoring the older ghost for all he was worth. The older raven poked the halfa’s shoulder, Danny simply turning his head to glare fiercely at him until the teacher called for attention and class began.

 

During the period, Tucker occasionally glanced over at his best friend, noticing the other teen’s rigid posture and white knuckles as he gripped his pencil. There was a scowl on his pale face. When Tucker would look over at Dan, the man would be smirking, facing forward towards the front of the class as if thinking of a private joke that only he thought was funny. Then Tucker would catch Danny glaring at the other teen. Somehow that joke involved his best friend and Tucker did not like it.

 

 _‘What is going on?’_ he asked himself. It only made him wish the day would go by faster.

 

When the bell rang, Danny was up and out of his seat like lightening, not even bothering to wait for his best friend before darting out of class. Tucker blinked after him.

 

“He’s more jittery than usual,” he muttered to himself.

 

“He’s probably just not having a good day,” a voice stated next to him. Tucker turned his head to see Dan picking up his things, a small smile on his lips.

 

“Well, Danny does seem to have quite a few of those,” the colored teen admitted. He smiled at Dan, holding a hand out. “I’m Tucker, by the way.”

 

Dan shook it, smirking slightly when Tucker shivered at the feel of his cold skin. “Dan. Pleasure to meet you, Tucker.” He pulled his hand back. “You’re in my first period, aren’t you?” he asked. He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “I was able to get a quick glance around before my impromptu flight out of the window.”

 

Tucker laughed, gathering up his own stuff before walking out of the room with the other teen. “Yeah, I’m in there. So are Danny and our friend Sam. What was that all about, anyway?”

 

Dan ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not really sure, actually. I guess he thought I was somebody else or something. That was that Phantom kid everybody keeps talking about, right?”

 

“Yep,” Tucker nodded, smiling. “He’s our own resident hero.” They stopped at Tucker’s locker, the four-eyed teen swapping out the books he needed for his next class.

 

“He’s seems like a pretty nice guy,” Dan said.

 

“What class do you have next?” Tucker asked, closing his locker.

 

Dan pulled out his schedule. “Um… biology.”

 

“Huh. Looks like you’ll be seeing Danny again. Hopefully he’ll be in a better mood. He’s usually pretty cheerful…” Tucker trailed off, scratching his head under his beret. Something about Dan reminded him of Danny, and it wasn’t just the name. It was almost reassuring. He shook his head, smiling again. “You’ll be going down that hall.” He pointed back the way they came.

 

Dan nodded and smiled. “Alright, thanks.” He started walking away, assumingly going to his own locker first. “See you around, Tucker.”

 

Tucker waved.

 

///

 

Danny slammed his locker shut with more force than was necessary, scowl still decorating his pale face. He stomped down the halls, privately grateful that he hadn’t seen Dash Baxter since English. Sadly, the football player was in his biology class. _‘This day could not possibly get any worse,’_ he thought.

 

Once he made it to his class, he darted to his table in the back, far away from Dash Baxter’s. The blonde thug had yet to show up. Danny did not need to take any crap from him at the moment. He sighed, laying his head on the cool table top, enjoying the momentary peace. The bell rang, students hurrying to their tables. Danny closed his eyes. What were the odds that his future evil older self was in three of his classes in a row, anyway?

 

“Class, settle down. We have a new student joining us today,” the teacher announced.

 

Danny sat straight up, eyes wide. It couldn’t be…

 

It was. Dan had strolled through the door for the third time that day, smirk ever-present on his admittedly handsome face. Once again, the girls swooned. Danny could practically see the hearts floating above their heads. He glared murder at the ghost. The ghost smirked back.

 

 _‘This is insane!’_ Danny screamed in his head. _‘There’s no way! Three classes in a row- it's too much! I can’t deal with this. And it’s too late to switch out of any of them.’_ His head met the desk once more.

 

“Daniel, are you alright?” a voice suddenly asked. He looked up to see his classmates staring at him weirdly, the teacher looking concerned.

 

“It’s nothing, teach,” he lied, face flushing. “I’m just not feeling too good.” That was an understatement…

 

The teacher looked worried. “Would you like to go to the nurse?”

 

 _‘Yes!’_ his head screamed at him. “No, I’m good.”

 

“Alright, then…” And with that, class continued, Dan taking a seat near the front with one last smirk to Danny. Danny just wanted to yank as hard as he could on the older ghost’s stupid little ponytail.

 

He stewed in his anger, completely ignoring the paper football that was flung at his head. He just glared at the back of Dan’s head, fists clenched tight. Danny eventually broke his gaze when another paper football hit him.

 

Looking down at the two lined pieces of paper, Danny raised an eyebrow. When he glanced up Dash Baxter was smirking at him from his spot next to Dan, the older ghost curiously staring out of the corner of his eye. The halfa opened both of them up.

 

The first one was blank, probably just meant to annoy him. The second football, however, had a little message inside.

 

_Watch your back._

 

Sighing, Danny simply crumpled up both pieces of paper, shoving them in his pocket. It was bad enough that he still had to see Lancer after school.

 

The bell rang, Danny doing much the same as he had at the end of math, bolting out of class before Dash or anyone else could get their hands on him. Making it to his locker in record timing, the poor blue-eyed boy banged his head against the cold metal.

 

“That kills brain cells, you know,” Dan’s suave voice came up from behind him.

 

“Are you stalking me or something?” the raven demanded, spinning around to glare at the taller male. “Because it’s seriously starting to freak me out.”

 

Dan smiled down at him. “I’m only trying to look after my younger past self. I would hate for anything to happen to me.”

 

“I’d hate for something to happen to you, too,” Danny muttered darkly. He turned back to his locker, putting in his code and swapping his books out. “Seriously, why are you in three of my classes?”

 

The older ghost leaned against the locker next to his, a complete picture of calm and cool. Danny’s eyes were momentarily drawn to the older teen’s hips where his jeans had slipped down rather low. He blushed lightly, quickly averting his gaze. Dan pulled his schedule out, missing the younger’s momentary lapse in sanity. “I think I’m in all of your classes, actually,” he said.

 

“What?” The halfa ripped the piece of paper out of the elder’s hand. Dan let him. Danny’s hand flew to his forehead. “You can’t be serious…”

 

Dan shrugged. “Hey, blame Clockwork, not me. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t even be in school right now.”

 

“Yeah, you’d be busy taking over the world,” stated Danny. He slammed his locker shut.

 

“Something like that, yeah.” Dan was grinning at him. “So what’s next?”

 

“History.” Danny was _so_ not in the mood for this.

 

If it was possible, Dan’s smirk only grew more amused. “Hey, so do I. I’ll walk with you.”

 

Danny groaned. _‘Oh, yeah. This day just got worse.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Officially on hiatus, for those of you who read this on FF.net.


End file.
